for the first time since its inception in 1965, the ASCO scientific conference was held virtually amid the COVID 19 pandemic. this did not stop the global oncology community from convening during three days [from may 29-31] to accelerate progress together.
on june 4th ASCO announced record breaking attendance of this event that normally convenes some 40,000 people in chicago’s mccormick centre- which was turned into a field hospital to combat the city’s COVID 19 crisis. more than 42,700 were in attendance with 138 countries having participated – all of them united to conquer cancer.
skip burris, outgoing ASCO president said ‘although the pandemic prevented us from gathering in chicago, it didn’t stop us from fulfilling our mission of sharing knowledge to accelerate progress for millions of people worldwide living with cancer’ – and i will agree – what progress! from colorectal cancer, bladder cancer, breast cancer, lung cancer, myeloma, and pediatric cancers – the data and findings presented – some practice changing – were a true testament to the conferences theme this year – unite and conquer. accelerating progress together.
this conference, more so than any- really emphasized the unmet needs for the most vulnerable cancer patients, highlighted the move towards more patient centered research – this study on patients satisfaction after breast mastectomy or reconstruction comes to mind.
precision medicine of course continues to play a pivotal role in cancer research and care and the pediatric trial matching children to targeted therapies with an algorithm is another promising direction – especially for children’s cancers.
you can read more about the highlights from the ASCO20 conference in our colab.notebook here
happy reading !